"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."- Zechariah
The church should be vitally interested in the cleansing of the sanctuary for Jesus' sake. In the ancient ritual, the high priest symbolically bore the sins of the people. (Ex. 28:38; Lev. 10:17) When the people sinned, the sanctuary was de filed (Lev. 20:3; Ezek. 5:11), and the high priest bore the iniquity of the sanctuary. (Num. 18:1) When the people repented and transferred their sins into the sanctuary through the blood of the sin offering, they transferred the burden of guilt to the high priest. (Questions on Doctrine, p. 678) Not until the sanctuary was cleansed was he freed from his sin-bearing capacity.
It is essential to consider the reality of the ancient ceremony. Jesus, the High Priest of the church, has made Himself one with His people. He is their Head; they are His body. Just as men feel the pain when their bodies are injured, just as they suffer when their bodies suffer, so Jesus feels all the sin and bears all the imperfections of His people. When Satan bruises one of God's children and defiles a member of His body with sin, Jesus is verily crucified afresh. (DA 300) When a repentant sinner comes to Christ, the sin is not blotted out, but is transferred to Christ. (GC 421) The Saviour must even purify the prayers, praise, and good works of His children from all defilement. (1SM 344)
Calvary, with its burden of sin and pain, has a much wider dimension than usually supposed. Christ is presented to the church as a torn and mangled Lamb in the sanctuary above. (EW 79; Rev. 5:6)
"Few give thought to the suffering that sin has caused our Creator. All heaven suffered in Christ's agony; but that suffering did not begin or end with His manifestation in humanity. The cross is a revelation to our dull senses of the pain that, from its very inception, sin has brought to the heart of God. Every departure from right, every deed of cruelty, every failure of humanity to reach His ideal, brings grief to Him. When there came upon Israel the calamities that were the sure result of separation from God,-subjugation by their enemies, cruelty, and death,-it is said that 'His soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.' 'In all their affliction He was afflicted. ... and He bare them, and carried them all the days of old.' Judges 10:16; Isaiah 63:9." -Ed 263.
What, then, does the cleansing of the sanctuary mean to Jesus? What does the blotting out of sins mean to Him?
"Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins."-Is. 43:24, 25.
For six thousand years Jesus has "borne our griefs and carried our sorrows." Even yet He is "wounded for our transgressions" and "bruised for our iniquities." Not alone by looking back is Calvary beheld. The sanctuary above reflects the full dimension of Jesus'sin-bearing love. (GC489) And He will suffer the pain and agony of the cross until His sanctuary is cleansed.
Thus Daniel 8:14 is an announcement that the time has come to release Jesus from the pain and agony of Calvary. But the church's sympathy and cooperation are necessary if this is to be effected. Are the people of God interested?
"And they crucified him. ... And sitting down they watched him there."-Matt. 27:35, 36.
"And I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none."-Ps. 69:20.
Eternal Punishment
Satan is an expert at changing the truth to its exact opposite - a lie. He deceived men into believing that the wicked would be delivered to everlasting fire, whereas the truth is that the righteous are the ones who will live in everlasting fire. (Is. 33:14, 15; Heb. 12:29; Rev. 15:2)
The prospect of eternal punishment for the lost was supposed by some to be an incentive to stop men from sinning, but it never did. This terrible doctrine illustrates the deep nature of sin. Millions have believed in an eternally burning hell, and yet, fully believing that they would go to such a place, they continued sinning. Sin is so deeply rooted in man's nature, his love for his own way is so intense, that if God set him on the edge of an eternal hell and threatened to cast him in for disobedience, man would still proceed to disobey!
Daniel 8:14 is the complete reversal of Babylon's doctrine of eternal torment. It can be seen that it is God who has been suffering endless torment for six thousand years. In 1844 the hour had struck for the Lamb of God to be released from His office of Sin-bearer in the sanctuary above. Yet four generations have come and gone while He waits and suffers. God's people have added over 120 years of needless suffering and sorrow to Christ. His release depends upon the cooperation of the church. But if the past century and a quarter have not brought His release, what assurance can He have that His suffering will not go on endlessly? Only Jesus' faith in His people assures Him that it will come to an end. If God's people keep on sinning, what is the prospect? Not eternal torment for sinners, but certainly endless years of suffering for the Saviour!
The contemplation of their own suffering will not lead the saints to the blotting out of sin; but the contemplation of the cross will:
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn."-Zech. 12:10.
Motivation
The contemplation of the cross in the light of Daniel 8:14 is necessary to bring the church out of its Laodicean complacency. Only this will lead God's people to the sanctuary with the heartbroken repentance of the ages. It will lead them to plead for the blotting out of sins with such earnestness that they will pray as did Moses, "And if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book," for the sanctuary can only be cleansed by blotting out either the sins or the name of the sinner. Fear of the judgment, the plagues, or being lost will not accomplish the needed revival. The prospect of escaping the miseries and inconveniences of this world will not break the Laodicean stalemate. Daniel 8:14 holds the key. Might God's people look up to the Lamb in the sanctuary above, and behold Him whom they have pierced! Let the trumpet be blown to call Israel to affliction of soul! (Joel 2:15-17) Only then will there be a mighty revival and reformation, a re-emphasis and renewed understanding of that message which declares, "The hour of His judgment is come."
"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which cloth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us."-Hebrews 12:1.